OLLIE’S BARGAIN OUTLET HOSTS RIBBON CUTING AND GRAND OPENING

Ollie’s Bargain Bin

618-532-9401

1139 W. Broadway Ave, Centralia, IL

Ollie’s Bargain Bin hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday morning outside of its 1139 W. Broadway Ave. location, moments ahead of its grand opening.

The ribbon cutting was attended by numerous members of the Ollie’s staff, as well as members of the Centralia Chamber of Commerce, local media, and general public.

Ollies officially opened its doors after the ceremony, with a line of eager patrons filing in for their first shop.

Store Manager Melissa Taylor said she was happy about the grand opening, as well as the work that went into its preparation.

“I am excited that we are opening the store,” said Taylor. “I’m glad that we’re here. We’ve got a great turnout, and I really appreciate all of the support that we’re getting from Centralia.”

Taylor said roughly two months of setup went into Wednesday’s big opening, and that she is starting with a staff of nearly 40 employees.

“It took five-to-six weeks to get the store set up to standards,” Taylor said. “Right now, I have at least 39 employees working here.”

Foster Bliss, district team manager of Ollie’s Bargain Bin, said the Centralia location is one of 75 Ollie’s stores to be built in 2026.

“We offer a solid value statement for our customers,” said Bliss, who oversees 10 stores spanning from Metro St. Louis to Mt. Vernon. “We carry just about everything you could imagine here and every department, except for cold food. We offer great value to our customers. It’s 40-to-80-percent-off retail. We have Ollie’s Card Membership Discounts and we have our own credit card. There are lots of opportunities for our customers to save.”

Bliss said the building at 1139 W. Broadway, formerly a Big Lots, was the perfect location for an Ollie’s store.

“This former Big Lots location offered the right physical footprint for us and opportunity to build in a community that could benefit for additional retail development,” said Bliss. “We are on a mission to help save customers money. The demographics here matched with our model, so we chose to open a store in Centralia.”